Wireless personal area networks (“WPANs”) are used to convey information over relatively short distances. Unlike wireless local area networks (“WLANs”), WPANs need little or no infrastructure, and WPANS allow small, power-efficient, and inexpensive solutions to be implemented for a wide range of problems. Smart utility networks (“SUNs”) may operate either over short ranges, such as in a mesh network where utility meter information is sent from one utility meter to another, or over longer ranges, such as in a star topology where utility meter information is sent to a poletop collection point. The terms WPAN and SUN are used interchangeably in this document.